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On 55th Anniversary of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand More Prominent Than Ever

October 10, 2012

New movie based on the 1957 novel; new book by Ayn Rand Institute authors hits best-seller lists; Playboy to reprint Rand interview as e-book

IRVINE, Calif. — October 10 marks the 55th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged, the Ayn Rand masterpiece that sold more than 445,000 copies last year alone. Rand continues to be a pervasive figure in American culture, as politicos and business leaders regularly cite her works and opening weekend approaches for the second installment of the motion picture series based on the novel.

The book by Ayn Rand Institute executive director Yaron Brook and ARI fellow Don Watkins, Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government, applies Rand’s philosophy to current economic events. The book hit four best-seller lists, including the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today, and also earned a spot on the Tea Party Patriots’ recommended reading list.

Playboy will republish its 1964 interview with Rand as an Amazon e-book on Oct. 10.

“Millions of individuals have read Rand’s novels, and she has inspired and shaped many people’s thinking,” said Brook. “What’s unique about what’s happening today is that her ideas, and especially herself explicitly, are entering the mainstream debates.”

“Ayn Rand’s ideas of limited government and free markets, and her philosophy — particularly her moral philosophy — are what more and more Americans across the political spectrum are looking at more closely,” Brook said.

In addition to Atlas Shrugged, Rand also wrote The Fountainhead, Anthem, and We the Living. ARI’s high school essay contests, which are based on the novels, received more entries this year than ever before, and ARI has distributed more than 2.5 million copies of Rand’s novels to high schools around the country through its Books to Teachers program.

“It is encouraging to see more people talking about Ayn Rand and her ideas,” Brook said. “Even Paul Ryan, who doesn’t agree with all of her ideas, is certainly correct when he says that ‘Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.’”

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The Ayn Rand Institute has experts available for interviews. Please contact media@aynrand.org or call 202-454-1997, x200.